COMMODITIES of WAR Communities Speak out on the True Cost of Conflict in Eastern DRC

164 OXFAM BRIEFING PAPER NOVEMBER 2012 Kanyaruchinya IDP site, north of Goma (North Kivu, DRC), September 2012. Photo: Steven Van Damme/Oxfam COMMODITIES OF WAR Communities speak out on the true cost of conflict in eastern DRC EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 HRS GMT TUESDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2012 Recent waves of displacement in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, affecting more than 760,000 people since the beginning of 2012 in the Kivu provinces alone, reflect a new dimension to the country’s ongoing crisis. As the Congolese army fights M23 rebels, localised armed groups are springing up, and areas that were relatively stable are again under attack. Evidence gathered by Oxfam in 2012 shows that government soldiers, armed rebels, police, and civilian authorities are all vying for the right to exploit local communities and extort money or goods from them, pushing people further into poverty and undermining their efforts to earn a living. www.oxfam.org SUMMARY The past year has seen massive displacement, increasing volatility and For the sixth time since widespread suffering among communities in eastern Democratic 2007, Oxfam and its Republic of Congo (DRC). International attention has focused on the local partners have emergence of the M23 rebel group in April 2012, which has resulted in a conducted a protection disintegration of state control and violence, with severe humanitarian assessment across consequences. However, this is not so much a new crisis as a dramatic communities in eastern new dimension to a protracted conflict that has trapped communities in a DRC. Through focus relentless cycle of chronic abuse and constant insecurity, corroding group discussions and interviews with key people’s ability to lift themselves out of poverty. stakeholders, communities were An Oxfam assessment in 2012 shows that people from communities asked to give their across many parts of eastern DRC feel that their security situation has views on the protection deteriorated. situation in their area. Oxfam’s assessment exposed alarming levels of abuse of men, women and children by armed groups, including through forced recruitment, forced labour and continuous illegal taxation in one of the world’s most under-reported and appalling human rights crises. In areas subject to attack by armed groups, people expressed fears about killings, looting and abductions. In areas largely controlled by the state, people reported exploitation, including extortion under threat of violence, by the very state officials who are supposed to protect and support them. This chaos has exacerbated a trend in which communities themselves have increasingly become commodities of war, fought over by armed groups – both state and non-state – and by authorities seeking to control lucrative opportunities to extort their money and possessions (see Box 1). In several areas, people have felt compelled to take security and justice into their own hands due to an abusive or absent state, adding to the growing numbers of new armed groups. Box 1: Communities viewed as commodities of war In northern Masisi, the small market town of Kashuga was attacked 12 times between April and July 2012 by the Congolese army (FARDC), as well as by the APCLS (Alliance des Patriotes pour un Congo Libre et Souverain) and FDLR rebel groups. They were fighting over control of illegal tax revenues imposed on local people selling or buying goods at the weekly market. Oxfam’s assessment also identified an increasing pattern of ethnically motivated violence and revenge attacks. The potential for this to worsen in many areas of eastern DRC is very real; and as new groups emerge, areas that were once stable are becoming less so. 2 For the past six years Oxfam has conducted protection assessments in ‘Since 1994, troops North Kivu, South Kivu and Province Orientale. The current crisis in eastern have been coming: RPF DRC, including the recent surge in violence, has resulted from years of [Rwandan Patriotic inaction at the local, national and international levels to resolve the Front], RCD [Rally for fundamental security concerns consistently voiced by communities in these Congolese Democracy], assessments. People feel abandoned and increasingly frustrated by those CNDP, M23. None has whose duty it is to protect them. It is in desperation that communities brought any generally expressed a preference for being exploited by state security improvement.’ services rather than being subjected to continuous attacks by armed groups. Man, Rutshuru The 2012 assessment shows that men and women still experience insecurity in different ways, but for almost everyone Oxfam spoke to, traditional ways of coping with the challenges are under increasing strain. Based on the findings of our assessment, Oxfam urges the government of the DRC, regional and international governments, and the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) to take the following actions to ensure greater protection for civilians. The government of the DRC should: • Prioritise security sector reforms that will have the most direct impact on people’s safety, including tightening command and control systems, improving soldiers’ social and working conditions, and strengthening mechanisms for accountability of commanders and soldiers; • Deploy (or redeploy) a protective army presence to those areas where troop withdrawals have caused greater insecurity, while closely monitoring these army rotations; • Urgently address the extortion and violations committed by the army (FARDC) and police (PNC); • Explore non-military means of disarming armed groups, including creating economic and social incentives that deter young men from joining or motivate them to leave; • Ensure that state presence (military or civilian) in an area brings the intended benefits to the local population, delivering security and other services that are truly accountable to local people. Regional and international governments should: • Refrain from providing any support whatsoever to any armed group in the DRC and adhere to the sanctions regime imposed by the UN Security Council;1 • Support civil society organisations to hold the state accountable locally; • Ensure support to aid programmes to improve women’s equal access to justice and basic services. 3 MONUSCO should: • Provide effective protection for civilians in areas with no FARDC presence; • Improve communication with local communities and leaders to build trust; • Use innovative measures to increase protection, such as increasing foot patrols to fields and markets in flashpoint areas to enable civilians to maintain their livelihoods; • Effectively implement the UN’s Human Rights Due Diligence Policy. 4 1 INTRODUCTION In June 2012, Oxfam and 41 local partner NGOs conducted focus groups and interviews with 1,328 people in 32 conflict-affected communities across the three eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Province Orientale, North Kivu, and South Kivu. People were asked to give their views about the security situation and their protection, in a context of ongoing violence, exploitation, and the widespread presence of multiple armed groups (see Box 2 for key security developments in 2012). This was Oxfam’s sixth protection assessment since 2007 (see Annex for details of the methods used). The aim is to provide a snapshot of people’s experiences of protection and insecurity.2 Overall, the security situation has deteriorated significantly in many areas, and many communities continue to suffer at the hands of those with power, whether state or non-state actors. People reported having to pay illegal taxes and being subject to arbitrary arrest and detention, while killings, abductions, rape and other acts of sexual violence continue.3 Despite some encouraging signs of the state army’s ability to behave properly and to protect communities,4 and some communities’ successes in mitigating the impact of insecurity,5 people continue to suffer; the drive for ‘stabilisation’ has so far failed,6 and regional relations are at a low ebb. Largely due to the proliferation of armed groups and increases in their activity, by the beginning of August 2012, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the DRC was the highest it had been in three years, at 2.2 million (up from 1.7 million in 2011).7 In North Kivu and South Kivu alone, 767,000 people have fled their homes since the beginning of the year and had been unable to return by the end of September 2012.8 An additional 60,000 people fled into neighbouring Uganda and Rwanda.9 Box 2: Key developments in 2012 • Formation of the armed group M23 in the Kivus in April 2012. • A large-scale army desertion in Ituri district and subsequent territorial gains by militia in South Irumu (February–September 2012). • Increased insecurity following military operations against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and other armed groups in South Kivu (January 2012). • LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) resurgence in the Uélé districts (January–July 2012). • Ongoing reprisals by the Raïa Mutomboki, FDLR, and Mayi-Mayi Nyatura rebel groups linked to increasing ethnic tension between communities (December 2011 to the present). • The proliferation of local armed groups, which have increased their activities (partly linked to the November 2011 elections). 5 For the first time since 2007, Oxfam’s assessment looked at the protection situation beyond those areas worst affected by insecurity, to include villages that did not suffer from regular armed attacks. This enabled comparison between areas where the predominant armed actors (who have become the de facto authorities) were either an armed group, the Congolese Army (FARDC), or other state services, including the police (Police Nationale Congolaise, or PNC), intelligence services (ANR), and broader state administration. The assessment also covered communities in areas where control regularly changes between the FARDC and armed groups. The following themes emerged over the past year:10 • The civilian population has increasingly become viewed as a commodity of war, as those who are fighting vie for the right to extort money and goods from people in areas they control.

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